It's a first for Lewiston-Porter Central
School District. The 2013-14 Lewiston-Porter School Board will have a female
majority when the newly elected take their office in July. The candidates are
running unopposed for three seats.

"It's the first time in the history of the
district that a female majority sits on the board," said President Jodee
Riordan.

Students in the high school history
classes submitted more than 90 questions with five chosen for the forum.

In opening remarks, each candidate
acknowledged the largest problem in the school district is financial, mainly
due to the state reduction in funding and state mandated programming. They also
voiced their support in the school's administration and faculty, and excitement
for a capital construction project that also will be on the May 21 ballot.

•The first question proved to be the most
unique of the night, asking the candidates if the security at Lewiston-Porter
was adequate.

"I
don't believe it is," said Wright.

"They have taken very strong efforts to
make it adequate but I'd like to see resource officers in all of the
buildings."

"We've made improvements to security with
the police department on campus," said Vandenbosch-Warrick. "The doors and
locks are improved and I like that key cards are used. There will also be more
improvements in the capital improvement project."

"We need to create an environment where
students feel safe but not in a lock-down mode and don't over react to certain
situations."

"I agree," said Riordan. "It could be
safer and every effort goes into making it safer."

•The most obvious question was budgeting
and how each candidate felt about the budget that will be presented to the
voters next week.

"I think it's a good one in that they
preserved as many programs as they could with the money available," said
Vandenbosch-Warrick. "I hope the community will support it with the 60 percent
vote needed."

"It was an exhausting process," said
Riordan. "There was only so much we could do, and the administration and board
did everything possible to retain the programming (we) have at
Lewiston-Porter."

"We felt we had no choice in raising the
tax levy," Riordan concluded. "The state takes money from this community and
they don't necessarily give it back."

Wright agrees that it is an excellent
budget, and it meets the students' educational needs.

Asked why they wanted a position on the
board, each candidate voiced their support and love of the Lewiston-Porter
School District.

"It has been an incredibly good experience
but it does take a lot of time and effort," said Riordan. "This is one of the
most important things to do. It's important to the school and to the
community."

"I'm proud of the work I've done so far,"
said Riordan.

"I had a lot of conversations before I
made the decision," said Wright. "But I want to be part of the solution, and
it's a great service for the community and the children."

Vandenbosch-Warrick has been volunteering
in many capacities since her children began in the district.

"Now is the time to work at a higher level
to directly affect policy and make sure the school stays here."

•If the budget should be voted down and
more cuts had to be made, where would they make those cuts?

"This is a complex question," said Wright.
"If I had a red pen I would start with the little stuff, because it adds up to
big stuff at the end of the day."

"I would look at where we could get the
biggest bang for the buck," she continued.

"Maintaining the educational aspect of the
district is the priority, so extra-curricular cuts is where I could go," said
Wright.

Vandenbosch-Warrick would look at all
state non-mandated programs including sports and pre-K.

"There are no more cuts to make that don't
affect programming," she said.

Riordan, who has been working on the
budget, said that this question has been answered and the cuts would include
modified sports, full-day pre-K, technology across the district, business
education and the after school program.

If the budget goes to contingency there
will be an additional $1.7 million to cut and that would include more layoffs
of 41 employees.

"It's very real what we had to look at,"
said Riordan.

•The final question: "If Lewiston-Porter
is allotted so much per student and the student population is declining, how do
you justify raising taxes?"

Riordan explained that there are figures
on educating each student but there are variants. Generally, it costs $9,000 to
educate one student; but if the student has special needs the cost could rise
dramatically to as much as $38,000 for mild disability to $100,000 per student
for those with severe disabilities.

'These are mandated programs," she
continued.

"Nobody wants to see taxes go up," said
Wright. "This is a minimal tax increase. It's the right thing to do for the
students."

In closing Vandenbosch-Warrick explained
that the tax levy increase stays in Lewiston-Porter.

"You should be happy to pay your school
taxes. If the state were to raise taxes in other ways it goes statewide and
little comes back here," she said. "We pay more and get little back (from the
state)."

"Every dollar you pay stays local," she
said in closing.

"It's a small increase to get a big
return," said Wright, referring to the quality of education Lewiston-Porter
students receive.

"I hope we have answered your questions,"
said Riordan. "There are no right answers, but we have been heavily engaged in
discussing all these topics before coming here tonight."

"I hope we have showed you how much we
care about the school district," said Riordan as she thanked the students and
Partners in Education for the opportunity for the public forum.

Riordan is up for re-election;
Vandenbosch-Warrick and Wright will be filling positions vacated by Dr. Jerome
Andres, who completed a one-year term, and Jim Sperduti, who completed a
two-year term. Neither chose to run for re-election.

•Wright is a graduate of Andover College
(Portland, Maine) and is general manager at True Religion Brand Jeans. She has
two children attending Lewiston-Porter. Wright feels her experience in
management for the past 15 years will be of value to the district.

•Vandenbosch-Warrick has a certificate in
general studies from Niagara County Community College and graduated from the
ACT Travel School (Pompano, Fla.). She is general manager of U.S. Operations of
Yorkville Sound Inc. She has three children attending Lew-Port and has served
on the PTA. Her volunteer and professional work, along with her knowledge of
Lew-Port, is the asset she feels she brings to the board.

•Riordan has just completed her second
term on the School Board and also has children in the school system. She is a
graduate of the University of Buffalo and is sales administrator for Modern
Corp. She has been proud of what she has accomplished in the past two years and
wants to continue working on her goals, including providing fiscal oversight
and prudence in the best interest of the community and taxpayers and continue
the level of civility and cooperation among the board.

Lewiston-Porter residents will be voting
on a $40,001,368 budget that includes a 5.52 percent tax levy increase. The
increase calls for a 60 percent majority vote to pass because the levy exceeds
the state's tax cap threshold of 4 percent.

Voters will also decide on a $26,075,000
capital improvement project that will be funded through state aid and New York
Power Authority Community Resource Funding. No taxpayer dollars will be used.
The improvement project will focus on the high school, along with modifications
that increase safety and security in the other buildings.

A detailed explanation of the budget and
capital improvement project can be found on the school's website www.lew-port.com.

Voting will take place on Tuesday, May 21,
from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Community Resource Center Board Room.